Because Dan's Already Here
by MissMeliss4251
Summary: Sequel to Because Vlad Would've Been Here. Danny and co lived through Vlad with the Reality Gauntlet...but now Clockwork's given it to Dan, and there's going to be major trouble!
1. Recap

**Because Dan's Already Here (Sequel to Because Vlad Would've Been There)**

Prologue

Recap

**AN: Well, hello all! Yeah, if it weren't for this snow day, you probably wouldn't be getting this story. I'm in at a real crunch time in my life – I have something everyday after school until at least seven. Not to mention homework.**

**  
But you're lucky – seems as though today _is_ a snow day and I'll begin the story today! YAY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom! **

**Oke doke now. This is the sequel to Because Vlad Would've Been There, (alternate version of Reality Trip) so doesn't follow the normal time line. So the Nasty Burger is saved! If you haven't read the first story, you might be slightly lost. But that's why I'm doing this recap. It's been SO LONG!**

General Point of View

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In Wisconsin, there was a hell of a party going on. All over, cheers could be heard. But in one place in particular, the cheers were the loudest.

This place was the mansion of Vlad Masters, who thanks to the Reality Gauntlet, owned the Packers.

So Vlad Masters was having a party to celebrate his accomplishment, and Wisconsin's accomplishment.

"The Bears lost the Super Bowl, the Bears lost the Super Bowl," chanted all of the Green Bay Packers, along with Vlad and a large percentile of Wisconsin.

Of course, no one was chanting "Go Colts!" They only cared that the Bears had lost, after all.

We'll focus on Vlad now. Vlad, the middle aged owner of the Packers, was first and foremost wearing a cheese head, and every single article of clothing visible was green or gold.

His broad chest was quickly rising up and down, trying to get more oxygen in the warm room. Every single occupant of the room was drinking beer, and dancing to a very un-Vlad-like song – Fergalicious.

Yeah, Fergalicious. Vlad. Creepy, I know.

The reason that Vlad was so out of breath was because he was attempting to do the worm – which was proving extremely difficult. And it would've been even without the jewel garnished Reality Gauntlet around his right arm.

Four gems adorned the bronze glove. The gem of power, the crimson gem of life, the yellow gem of form, and the sky colored gem of fantasy were all in their proper slots up and down the glove.

Vlad now proceeded to do the funky chicken, though, once again, the gauntlet got in the way.

The Reality Gauntlet that Vlad was wearing had, on his orders, been specially modified. Vlad had known that the Reality Gauntlet would eventually destroy any being who was wearing it – no matter how powerful.

So Vlad had Skulker steal the Gauntlet from the Guys in White and modify it so that anyone wearing it could be completely controlled by Vlad remotely. Because Vlad would control the wearer, he would control the Gauntlet as well.

So Vlad sent Skulker with the Gauntlet to his target. Freakshow, the only human he knew of that knew about the Gauntlet.

Freakshow, being Freakshow, had jumped on the chance that the overshadowed Guy in White had given him to put on the Gauntlet, along with the gems.

Thus Vlad controlled Freakshow, and reality.

Meanwhile in Amity Park, Danny Fenton, better known as Danny Phantom, had been suffering through his last day of freshman year. Lancer had given him detention for being late – because of Skulker – and made sure that Danny missed most of the School's Out concert by Dumpty Humpty.

But when Freakshow showed up at the concert and imprisoned everyone in mutant grass, Danny's detention was over extremely quickly as he ran out to face Freakshow, who was being controlled by Vlad.

After some witty banter, or as Sam said, lack there of, Freakshow blasted Danny, causing him to change back into Danny Fenton on local, national, and global television.

At the Fenton residence, Danny's parents had seen it – as had Jazz. However, Jazz was the only one who had caught a small detail – Freakshow had called Danny 'Daniel'.

The trio was quick to jump Freakshow, and thanks to the Internet, the trio was able to hide the gems through their thoughts.

Vlad had then overshadowed Jack to try to get both Maddie and Jazz in an uproar about Danny – but Jazz and her mother had both realized that Jack never paid much attention during the mayoral kidnapping a while back, which Vlad was using to incriminate Danny.

This is about the time that the bribed Guys in White who were now in Vlad's pocket showed up at the concert to arrest Danny, who escaped with Sam and Tucker with use of a mosh pit.

When the Guys in White had lost the trio, they headed towards Fenton Works to arrest Danny's family – and failed miserably when a turquoise-jump-suit-wearing, ninth-degree-black-belt-wielding, ghost hunter had taken them and their men down, only to be captured in the end. Sam and Tucker's parents had been captured as well.

Freakshow, under direction from Vlad, used the trio's parents as hostages, and thus made Danny, Sam, and Tucker head off on a journey to retrieve the stolen gems.

A hungry space shuttle, extreme sporting grandma Manson, a deal with Maddie for her son's life that Danny and Maddie would live with Vlad, a convention of demon Teletubbies crossed with Barney and the Wiggles, a convention of Danny Phantom enthusiasts, and three copies of Dan later, Vlad had sent the Guys in White to try to prevent Danny from getting killed.

Thanks to crazed enthusiasts, the trio was able to escape and have time to duplicate the gems before Vlad hacked into the Fenton Jet, causing it to come to his mansion.

However, the trio neglected to notice that they were landing at the back of Vlad's mansion.

So Danny gave Freakshow the fake gems, and Freakshow released everyone but Danny and his parents.

This was about the time that Vlad exchanged Jazz's life for her telling Maddie that Plasmius was Vlad Masters.

Freakshow tricked Danny into saying that he would rather join Vlad than give Freakshow the real reality gems, thus placing Danny in a big mess.

An interrogation of Tucker, a trip to Fort Knox, and a yo-yo ride from hell later, things had returned to relative normalcy – only with Vlad's cat and Vlad's possession of the Reality Gauntlet. And the whole owning-the-Packers thing.

Anyway, the party goers at Vlad's mansion all of a sudden froze. They ceased moving and chanting and breathing.

Clockwork, the Master of all Time, was in da house.

Clockwork, to his pleasure, had just been taken off of parole from the whole Dan incident by the Observants.

Clockwork simply floated to Vlad – who was in mid-funky chicken position – and slipped the gauntlet off of his arm.

Smiling, Clockwork muttered "Time in," and headed back towards his lair.

This was about the time that Vlad looked down at his arm, still in mid-funky chicken position.

Seeing the absence of the Reality Gauntlet made Vlad fall flat on his face.

To his joy, some of the Packers helped him up.

The Packers. One awesome consolation prize for losing the Gauntlet to

"Clockwork," Vlad muttered before continuing to do the funky chicken.

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Deep in the Ghost Zone, Clockwork was seemingly carelessly tossing the fully activated Reality Gauntlet into a Fenton Thermos.

A Fenton Thermos that Dan called his home.

Now we all know that Clockwork might at times seem a little insane – but this, this was just…unthinkable.

You almost expected him to start shouting

"I'm cuckoo for Coco Puffs!"

But no.

All Clockwork did was grin as he recapped the thermos.

Clockwork knew very well what he was doing.

And he knew that as long as he monitored everything closely, things would go his way.

Things would be _perfect_.

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"Ow!" Dan yelled as the Gauntlet slammed into his head.

"What is this?" he mused, ceasing his never ending struggling to get out of the thermos.

He put on the Gauntlet, and touched the gems, wondering what they were.

The gems began to glow.

And Dan began to laugh.

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**So how's that for a recap? The story begins next chapter…**

**How is it so far? **


	2. Cuckoo for Coco Puffs

**Because Dan's Already Here**

**Chapter 1**

**Cuckoo for Coco Puffs **

**I've decided that I'll update this once a week, probably on Friday. I'll update again Friday...**

General POV

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Child Clockwork stepped back from the Fenton Thermos as it exploded in an ominous cloud of ectoplasmic goo.

"Now I, Dan Phantom, have this glove that freed me from my prison!" Dan laughed. Then he noticed Clockwork – who was now changing into his middle aged version.

"Clockwork? What is this place?"

"This, Dan, is my lair. Where up until I put the Reality Gauntlet into your Fenton Thermos you were completely powerless to hurt anyone," Clockwork said, changing into an old man.

"You're helping me wreak havoc and destruction by giving me this – what would this be again?"

"It is called the Reality Gauntlet," Clockwork answered, morphing once again into a child.

"I have yet to hear of it."

"That Gauntlet on your arm, along with those gems, controls all of reality," Clockwork told him calmly, while changing back and forth through his various ages rapidly, as though he were nervous.

"I think that I can handle that. But why would you give it to me?"

"Dan, I am sick and tired of being ordered around by the Observants to keep that wretched Earth safe and free from harm. It is time that this Earth is what it would be without me."

"They put you on parole, didn't they?"

"Yes they did. But I'm breaking it. I, however, am doing this for another reason," Clockwork shifted and stayed on his old, wise looking version.

"And what would that be?"

"I want you to help me. But I do not know how rusty you have become during your stay in that Thermos," Clockwork told him.

"You want to make sure I haven't lost my touch," Dan stated.

"Exactly. I want to see how much damage you can cause with the glove without actually hurting anyone. If you start to wreak major havoc, then the Observants will certainly notice."

"Until we destroy the Observants," Dan answered.

"Yes. But you must learn to use the Gauntlet first. Come back in seven Earth days and then I will evaluate your use to me," Clockwork told him.

"And if I do not agree?"

"I will remove that Gauntlet from your arm and shove you back into that Thermos to which you call home," child Clockwork said coldly.

"Deal," was all Dan said before leaving.

"There's a reason you've seen this. Brace yourself, Danny," Clockwork said to what seemed like no one.

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Danny's Point of View

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I sat up as quickly as I could, my heart beating about a mile a minute.

I think that I had just had the worst nightmare of my life.

Clockwork had given Dan the Reality Gauntlet and was planning the destruction of the world – and Clockwork had _meant_ to do it.

"But the Reality Gauntlet was destroyed," I told myself out loud, trying to calm down. "Vlad blew it to smithereens!"

But it wasn't working. Clockwork's words still echoed in my mind.

"There's a reason you've seen this. Brace yourself, Danny…"

I looked over at my clock. The blaring numbers told me that it was the middle of the night, and everyone would still be asleep.

Also known as the perfect time to pay a visit to Clockwork.

A flash of light came from underneath my sheets, then split into two.

When the rings were finished, I had successfully gone ghost.

I floated up through the sheets and began to float down to the lab. My parents secret lab.

When I got into the lab, I didn't think twice, but went straight through the portal.

The scenery changed. From the metal of the lab to swirling colors – greens, blacks, and purples mingled with thousands and thousands or doors.

But I was looking for only one door, and even at one hundred and ten miles per hour, it would take a while.

Surprisingly, I didn't run into a single soul – pun intended - on my way to Clockwork's – dead or otherwise.

It was uncharacteristically silent all around me – there weren't even scattered wails.

When I neared Clockwork's lair, a yell pierced the silence.

I zoomed inside – only to find Vlad in his ghost form yelling at an unconcerned Clockwork.

"You took the Reality Gauntlet?"

"You fooled Danny into believing that you destroyed it – and here he is now," Clockwork said.

"You didn't destroy the Reality Gauntlet?" I asked Vlad, who looked uncomfortable.

"I wanted the Green Bay Packers, Daniel. Is that so much to ask?"

"Sure. But you'd only start with the Packers. What would be next? My mom? Me?"

"First you and then your mother, actually," he answered.

"Yeah, you've obviously haven't given up on that vision since you saved me from the yo-yo ride from hell," I told him.

"I wouldn't of had to save you if you would've had more reliable friends," Vlad told me.

So he's blaming the fact that he got the three gems on _Tucker_?

"Oh no. You can't blame Tuck for telling you where the gems were after you _tortured him_!"

"Boys!"

"What?" Vlad and I said together, turning towards Clockwork.

"There are bigger fish to fry here," Clockwork told us, changing into his old self.

"Like what?" Vlad asked him.

"I was telling you the truth when I said that I had given the Gauntlet to someone else, Vlad," Clockwork told him.

"You gave it to someone? The Observants? The Guys in White? The President, Bill Bills? The mayor? Who?" Vlad asked, poising himself to blast off to find it and steal it from whoever currently had it.

"I gave it to someone like in Danny's dream," Clockwork said calmly.

"You mean my nightmare. Wait – are you saying that – "

"I gave it to Dan? Yes," child Clockwork said.

"What are you on?" I asked him.

"Who's Dan?" Vlad asked.

"I am on nothing, and I am not cuckoo for Coco Puffs as you were about to say. I merely have a plan for destroying him once and for all."

"And you're one seriously crazed up Fruit Loop," I added.

"Don't you see? The Gauntlet will destroy anything that uses it too much – even the most powerful ghost ever to exist in the time stream!"

"But think of all the damage he'll do before he is destroyed! That…is…very…bad!" I shouted.

"Will someone please fill me in?" Vlad asked again.

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	3. Jokes of the Month

**Hey all - show choirs in full season now, and we're going to nationals soon - so I'll try to squeeze in time for this I'll do it - just don't expect an update for over a week - I won't even be near a computer...**

Because Dan's Already Here

**Jokes of the Month**

**Danny's POV**

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"Clockwork just gave the most powerful ghost ever – he'd flatten Pariah with the ring and crown in about two point five milliseconds – the Reality Gauntlet and convinced him that he was going to allow him to destroy the world! And he might even be lying to us and is intending to destroy the world, and us with it!"

I said that all in one loud breath, trying to answer Vlad's question of who Dan was.

From the blank look on Vlad's face, I would have to explain it again.

"Daniel, I have not the faintest idea what you just said. Will you tell me again, and this time, breathe and speak much, much slower.

"How about you just ask some questions about Dan," Clockwork suggested. "It will be easier and we won't waste time for…unneeded information."

"How powerful is this Dan character?" Vlad asked sounding concerned for my well being.

Ha. There's the joke of the month.

"Oh…I don't know…think your ghost half and my ghost half together, minus any human emotions, and a lust for blood. Times fifty. There's Dan."

"Oh dear," Vlad said, knowing darn well now how bad Dan was.

After all, Vlad and I had an understanding that he was my archenemy. He knew that I thought he was evil.

And comparing Dan to him had been the icing on the cake.

"Fifty times? Try one hundred," Clockwork said.

"So how was this being created?"

"It's a bit – "

"Complicated," Clockwork finished for me. "Dan exists outside of time, because he was in another time stream Danny's future."

"Daniel evil? I must've gotten to you. Taught you everything I knew, didn't I?"

"Something like that. But it isn't really my future self…"

"What is it then?"

"Try your ghost half mixed with my ghost half together, minus human emotions," I said quietly.

"How did that happen?" Vlad asked, shocked – most likely that he hadn't gotten super powerful and renamed himself 'Dan'.

"Long story short. In an alternate time line, my parents died in a Nasty Sauce explosion. I couldn't reach them in time – and you took me in. I was so depressed that I didn't want human emotions anymore, so I asked you to separate me from my human half. You did it, but when my ghost half came out, it killed my human half and split you. It then overshadowed your ghost half, and they blended together."

"You must've been really devastated if you agreed to live with me – unless I finally blackmailed you into it, of course," Vlad commented.

"It is no laughing matter. The apocalypse would've come had I not intervened with Danny's future," Clockwork scolded in middle aged form.

"This is just difficult for me to believe."

"Yeah, me too. And I lived through him trying to kill me."

"Now Danny, you didn't come all this way just to chat with Vlad. If you wanted to do that, all you would have to do is pick up the phone," Clockwork told me.

"I wanted to know if that nightmare was real. If you really had told Dan that you were planning the destruction of the world," I told him.

"What you dreamed really did occur. However, I am not about to destroy the Earth. I just want Dan to destroy himself – and it will work, trust me," Clockwork in child form told me.

"Daniel why should we trust him? He says that he is trying to destroy Dan – but you witnessed him tell Dan that he wanted the destruction of the world. After what I've heard about Dan, I'm not so sure that I believe Clockwork's side of the story," Vlad told me.

"I can't say that I don't agree with you, Vlad. But we've got no choice. What's done is done. Now we have to stop Dan from wreaking havoc on Earth."

"We?"

"Yes we! He's part you too, you know!"

"But I didn't know about him until you told me."

"I need your help Vlad," I admitted.

"Will you say that again for the record. You want to join me to defeat this Dan character?"

"Yes Vlad," I muttered.

He grinned as though he was on his way to getting everything he wanted. And I guess he was.

I've got a really bad feeling about this.

Clockwork seemed pleased that we were teaming up as well.

But I still don't know if he's telling the truth or if he's lying.

But I did know one thing for sure. He wasn't about to do anything or have anything done that would hurt the future – which would probably mean my death. He had intervened with my life to save the future before.

Why do I have the feeling that he's off to do it again?

"So Daniel, what do you propose we do about Dan?" Vlad asked me as though Clockwork wasn't here.

"Well, the last time I put him in a Fenton Thermos. That kept him in until he got the Reality Gauntlet. But we'd have to give the Thermos to the Observants or someone like that. I gave it to Clockwork last time, and look what happened!"

"Yes, I see your point. He simply freed the ultimate enemy. You," Vlad added with a laugh.

"What?"

"It's just the thought of you being evil Daniel. It's hilarious, though it would be simply wonderful. Perhaps I should strike a deal with Dan…"

"You have conflicting goals. Dan wants us skewered on a silver platter. You want yourself alive – or half way so."

"Oh that is a bit of a snag. But I could convince him however that I was striking a deal with him to get him off guard…hmmm perhaps it is time to get out my chess board," Vlad muttered, floating out of Clockwork's lair.

"I going to regret this?" I asked an elderly Clockwork.

"Define regret."

I floated out of Clockwork's lair to find Vlad waiting for me.

"We've just got one problem," he told me.

"Right. Finding him that – "

"Shouldn't be a problem," a cold voice chuckled from behind me. Turning around, I was face to face with my worst nightmare.

Dan.

"It looks like the little dynamic duo wants to play in the big league. Sorry kiddies, you've already lost the game."

He charged up a very powerful looking blast.

"Daniel!" Vlad's voice urged me to move.

I began to move - but I didn't move quickly enough.

Dan's laughter was the last thing I heard before fading into darkness.

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	4. Lost Time

**Hey guys. I got this update to you as quickly as I could - so I wrote it after my brain started functioning around five. We got home at two am from show choir this morning :) Mosh pits and crowd surfing rocks...**

Because Dan's Already Here

Lost Time

Danny's Point of View

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"Danny! Get up!" I heard Jazz's voice yell.

I grumbled and rolled over, covering my head with the blankets.

Then I jumped out of bed, my heart racing.

What the hell happened?

Had I been dreaming that I had been dreaming Dan got the Reality Gauntlet on account of Clock Work – and that I had woken up and gone to Clock Work's lair where Vlad and I concluded that we were going to have to work together to stop Dan? And what about Dan laughing maniacally before I woke up?

With am eerie feeling of Déjà vu, I pushed away these thoughts, dismissing these crazy events as delusional dreams.

"Danny!" Jazz shouted again.

"I'm up!" I yelled back, quickly getting dressed, and tripping as I tried to put on my socks standing up.

Running down the stairs two at a time, I darted into the kitchen to meet Jazz reading a book on psychology and eating toast.

"Danny, our parents are in the lab cooking up some _wonderful_ invention that is supposed to tell when a person's a ghost because of the whole Spectra-is-really-a-ghost thing, Mr. Lancer called – you failed his last test, and your first class starts in ten minutes," she told me without looking up.

"What?" I asked in disbelief, glancing at the clock. "And I actually studied for that test!"

"When I asked you if you wanted my help in studying for it, you said that you had no time to study E.E. Cummings," Jazz answered.

"E.E. Cummings? That test isn't until next week!" I told her, opening the cabinet to search for some Fenton Hoops cereal.

"It was yesterday, Danny. Is there something wrong?"

"I guess that I had some really weird dreams," I shrugged. "Did you do anything with the Fenton Hoops?"

"We ran out of them two days ago, Danny. Are you sure that you're alright?"

I am definitely not alright. What in the Ghost Zone is going on? Did this have anything to do with my dream? Did Dan do something to me?

Or am I finally going crazy?

"No. I'm fine. Wait – how do they know that Spectra is a ghost?"

"Because you revealed her in front of the whole school at the pep assembly yesterday. You really don't remember, do you?"

"Which me?"

"Fenton. Danny, you may be suffering from posttraumatic stress. Breathe in and breathe out. You said that you thought that test was next week. How many ghosts have you fought in the last week? All of that stress must be building up," I glanced at the clock again, not wanting to listen as she continued to ramble psychologist nonsense.

"Jazz – how are you getting to school? Class starts in like five minutes," I told her, cutting off her ramble.

"I have A's in all of my classes – I don't have to take finals. Don't tell me that you don't remember studying for finals!"

"Freaking Applesauce!"

Only I didn't really say 'freaking' or 'applesauce', if you get my drift.

"Danny!"

"Sorry, Jazz," I muttered apologetically.

"Where have you heard such language?" she asked appalled.

"Jazz, I go to something called high school. Our teachers either use or suggest that language," she looked shocked.

"What do you mean suggest?"

"Like say literally 'That Hitler was a blankety blank.' Or at least my history teacher does," I told her.

I then heard footsteps behind me.

"Here's our ghost hunter!" I heard mom say from behind me before enveloping me in a bone crushing hug.

"Morning, mom," I gasped.

"Sweetie you were so brave with that Fenton Peeler!"

"Who knew that the school psychologist was a psychotic ghost that sucks the happiness from kids!" dad added. "Sorry that I didn't believe you and tell your mother, Danny my boy, but I thought that you were a ghost when you told us that your school psychologist was a ghost!"

"Good thing Jazz stopped him from shooting you with the Fenton Bazooka," mom continued cheerily.

Jazz gave a weak grin. From that grin I could tell that it had _really_ been a close one.

"Yeah. Just remember dad – Danny's not a ghost!" she said nervously.

"Wait, Danny. Why aren't you at school?" mom asked.

"School's starting twenty minutes later because of finals," Jazz said quickly.

'Thank you' I mouthed at her from behind mom and dad's backs.

She smiled.

"And I have to walk. It's my PE homework."

"Have a great day, sweetie!"

"If you see any ghosts, kick their butt!" dad added, handing me the Fenton Peeler.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Bye," I told them, grabbing a Portable Fenton Breakfast – also known as a granola bar – and my backpack before walking out the front door.

Two minutes, a granola bar, and a street corner later, Fenton Works was out of sight and I was checking to see if the coast was clear before going ghost.

Jazz was wrong on one point – I did remember beginning to study with her for finals about three weeks ago. She felt that it was her duty as a 'member' of 'Team Phantom'.

Where she got that rope that was human proof and ghost proof to tie me to the chair was beyond me…

At least I wouldn't be totally lost, I thought thankfully, looking down at the streets of Amity Park as they whizzed past me at one hundred and twelve miles per hour.

After a high-speed trip to my locker, I made it to Lancer's class with about two seconds to spare. He gave me a small glare before I slid into a seat between Sam and Tucker.

Lancer had already placed the test booklets and trusty number two pencils on the desks.

The bell rang.

"You may begin," Lancer said coldly.

I looked at the first question.

_E.E. Cummings is best known for this._

"Confusing and failing people," I found myself muttering under my breath.

"Do you have a question, Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer asked me from his desk where he was reading a book. Glancing at the title, I discovered that it was a book of E.E. Cumming's poems.

"No, Mr. Lancer," I muttered.

Why is it that whenever you don't want ghosts to come and interrupt your life, they do, and when you're about to fail a test that counts for like half of your grade there are none anywhere?

I would kill for even the Box Ghost to dart into the classroom at the moment.

Heck, I could take Vlad or Dan walking into the room instead of this test.

Sadly, I'd probably do a whole lot better.

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	5. In The House

**Yo. Enjoy :)**

Because Dan's Already Here

In The House

General Point of View

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Finals – everyone's least favorite time of the semester.

But Valerie Gray had even more reason to hate them.

Or so she thought, as she sat nodding off towards the end of her Algebra final.

She had been busy fighting ghosts and hadn't had any time to study.

Ghosts that Danny would easily be able to take care of, of course.

Valerie was now asleep, but jerked awake when she began to dream of ghosts.

Valerie began to think about why ghosts never showed up when they were wanted – but always showed up when they weren't wanted.

Something I'm sure that you'll remember Danny pondering not a few minutes earlier.

"Now what is a polynomial again?" Valerie muttered, deciding that she might as well work on her final, even though our friend Valerie had adopted a new slogan.

D's get degrees.

"Pencils down," Valerie's Algebra teacher announced in a dull monotone voice.

Students, including Valerie, all began to file out of the classroom. Most of them still had another final before they would be released for Lunch B. Their stomachs were already growling in envy of the lucky ones in Lunch A that were headed towards the lunchroom, and deciding what to buy for lunch.

Valerie was one of the unlucky ones – she had Lunch B. Even unluckier, she had her history final next.

"If I thought Algebra was bad, I know history's gonna be a drag," she muttered to herself as she dawdled through the halls.

All of a sudden, there was a slight ding from Valerie's wrist. She looked down at her ghost detecting technology that her benefactor, Vlad Masters, had recently sent her.

"And _now_ they show up," Valerie grumbled, already feeling irritable from her long nap.

She quickly looked around her, making sure that no one was looking. She then tapped her wrist, and Valerie Gray disappeared, the Red Hunter was in her place.

"Let's get this party started!"

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Danny's Point of View

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" – Then I dreamed that I woke up and went to Clockwork's lair where I found out that he had actually given the Gauntlet to Dan! And he thought that it would fix things! I had to tell Vlad about Dan – and he was all about joining Dan's conquest to destroy the world. That was until somehow I got him to agree to help me fight Dan. We then floated outside of Clockwork's lair, wondering how we would find Dan. But then there he was – and Vlad screamed for me to get out of the way. I was too slow – and the last thing I remember, he was laughing at me. Then I woke up to Jazz yelling for me. She told me that it was like two weeks from when I had went to bed!"

Three excruciatingly long and boring finals later, I was walking down the hall with Sam and Tuck towards the lunchroom, ready to chow down.

"So you don't remember anything?" Sam asked me.

"Not even Paulina hugging you after you saved her from Spectra convincing her to wear makeup that would make her break out?" Tucker inquired.

"That happened?"

"No, but it sure sounds like something that could," Tucker shrugged.

"So what really happened?" I asked them.

"Spectra showed up again. Everyone was already pretty creeped out about her," Sam offered.

"From last time. Spectra, also like last time, was seeking the perfect bod."

"The Fenton Ghost-Catcher was involved- only this time there was no Super-Danny and fun Danny. You were cleanly snapped in two. Spectra made off with your ghost half."

"You had to resort to your humanly gifts," Tucker concluded.

"And you're a pretty good ghost hunter as a human, too," Sam supplied.

"What Sam means is that she thinks you're hot when fighting spectral entities," Tucker told me.

I felt myself blush, as did Sam.

"Tucker!"

"Fine," Tucker sighed. "Anyway, there was a bit of a Dan situation going on, only you were like a heshe – "

"Was it a 'yikes' or an 'ew'?" I asked Tuck.

"Definitely a yikes," Sam said while Tucker said "Definitely an ew."

"So a yikes and an ew. That's pretty bad, even by my standards," I had to admit.

"Yeah – and then you fought her with those Fenton boxing gloves things and sucked her into the thermos. You're a hero, but after the mob, we've told people to back off," Sam said.

Wait – how would Sam not know the name of the Ghost Gauntlets? Wasn't that a little weird?

And how had I gotten back into one piece?

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind – something was telling me very insistently that they didn't matter.

I should listen to that voice.

"Yeah, Sam was getting pretty jealous of all the girls after you," Tucker made another crack at us that had us blushing again.

"Tucker, this is serious! Danny could flunk ninth grade!" Sam exclaimed as we walked through the lunch line.

Sam – always the one who somehow kept us on track – even when we had three wheels off and one wheel on the track – and had been cruising so for a long time.

Giving a quick once over of the kitchen, there was no sign of the lunch lady ghost - some good news for once.

"No – I actually think that I did alright. Jazz tied me to a chair a while back with some pretty interesting rope that wouldn't let me out no matter what I did. She had me studying for twelve hours straight."

"Dude, that's harsh. I know what its like," Tucker told us.

Sam and I exchanged a guilty look as we went to separate registers to pay for our lunches. Sam, as per usual, was going to be feasting on salad, while Tucker had gotten a quadruple burger. I had gotten a double burger – and actually gotten a small side salad.

This way I could make peace with the both of them.

"We didn't mean to leave you in there – it was just that Danny was all in love with me and it was just a bit distracting!" Sam defended as we sat down at our usual table.

"And I didn't know what the heck I was doing!"

"Fine. Make excuses – but just know that I don't feel a bit sorry for you," Tucker said, mock seriously.

"Really? I think it was a whole lot better for you," Sam supplied.

"Yeah. You learned more and put it to good use," I chimed in.

"But I had to have the information _forced _into my brain!"

"But you couldn't get bored – " my ghost sense then went off. "We'll finish this conversation later.

Looking around, I didn't see any ghost, but just as a precaution, I went ghost.

I would have to go looking for the ghost.

Judging on the screams coming from the hallway, that was where I should look.

Floating out into the hall, there were hundreds of kids gaping at something. It was blocked from my view, but judging from the sounds of ectoguns, Valerie was involved.

Then I saw the last thing that I wanted to see. Well – more of second to last.

Pariah Dark was in the house.

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Ha! I did it! It wasn't a total filler!


	6. Nightmare V10

Because Dan's Already Here

Nightmare V1.0

Danny's Point of View

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Pariah Dark.

I think I must've just stood – well, floated – there for about two whole minutes, completely stunned.

This was like a bad dream – worse.

It was like a nightmare.

On the other side of Dark was Valerie in ghost hunting mode – looking ready for action.

But she was pretty frozen, too, at seeing Pariah.

"I thought that you were locked in your sarcophagus!" was what I said after I regained my motor skills.

"I was, weakling," he told me.

Weakling – I'd probably under normal circumstances come up with some witty banter to counter that…but in this case, 'weakling' was a pretty good description.

This would be a wonderful time for the ecto-suit to reappear.

Valerie came to her senses after I spoke.

"What are you doing here, ghost?"

Like he was about to tell us in some grand monologue…

"I am here to avenge my time spent in that trap of doom. Though I do not posses my ring or crown, I am still fifty times more powerful than the both of you together."

Or maybe he was.

"Man, I sure feel sorry for the person who locked you away, dude," Valerie said, actually taking the flattery route. She hadn't forgotten what had happened to her last time she met up with Pariah Dark.

"Oh irony," I found myself muttering.

"You shall _all_ pay with your lives!"

"I take it that it's you, ghost," Valerie said, this time addressing me. "Never mind. I'll never be sorry for you."

"How'd you figure that out?" I said, somehow mustering sarcasm. "You're not killing anyone. It's me that you have a problem with. What? You too scared to just fight me?" I taunted.

By now Sam and Tucker should've been here, seeing me go slightly insane and prompt Dark to blast me into oblivion.

Looking around, I saw Sam and Tucker actually running away from the scene, creeping out one of the side doors of the school, along with the rest of the lunch room.

They were screaming madly along with the rest of the kids as though they had never seen a ghost before.

What the heck?

They had _never_ run away like that!

"It would seem that your loyal subjects have abandoned you," Dark commented, on seeing me watch Sam and Tucker in astonishment.

They didn't even turn around to give me a look of encouragement.

They just abandoned me to pretty much die.

"Loyal subjects?" Valerie asked.

"I'm still here," I told him.

"I am too, ghost," Valerie said.

"Valerie, get out of here!" I told her.

She could get killed.

I didn't know if I could.

"We fought him together last time. We can do it again," Valerie said.

"Now isn't like last time! Plasmius isn't here!" I told her.

"The other creepy ghost?"

"Yeah," I told her.

"We don't need him!"

"I beg to differ," I found myself saying.

Against Pariah Dark, even I'd admit that I needed more than Valerie could bring to the table.

We needed Vlad.

"I will find him later. For now…" Pariah Dark had been just watching us, amused. Now he charged up a red blast.

He was aiming it at Valerie.

"NO!" I shouted.

Things happened so quickly. I zoomed towards him to knock the blast out of the way, but nothing happened. I couldn't move, as though something was holding me back.

Just like a nightmare, I couldn't make it.

The blast crashed into Valerie with the force of a tsunami. It burned her suit up completely, leaving her school clothes beneath with burnt holes all over.

But what skin was exposed had changed to a deep red, as though she was bleeding out of her pores.

I didn't think that the blast would do _that_.

I watched in slow motion as she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Or worse.

I was able to move again and made it to where I should've been seconds ago as Valerie hit the floor.

That's when Lancer and Jazz chose to enter the hallway.

"What did you do?" I asked Pariah.

"Humans are regrettably extremely fragile," he answered with no regret at all.

"And here comes two more!"

"Ms. Gray?" Lancer called, running for her.

"Danny – did you do this?" Jazz asked me shocked, looking at Valerie.

"Jasmine – you know him?" Lancer asked.

"Danny Phantom is his name, right?" Jazz quickly said.

"Yes," I said, speaking for myself. "And of course I didn't do that! Pariah Dark did!"

"Pariah Dark? The ghost king? I don't see him anywhere!" Jazz said.

I looked over at Pariah Dark, who smirked.

He wasn't invisible. He wasn't even intangible.

Valerie had been able to see him!

What was going on?

"But he's right here!" I said, motioning to him.

"They can't see me, Danny," he told me in a very familiar voice that wasn't his own.

The only problem was that I couldn't tell whose voice it was.

"She has no pulse," Mr. Lancer said of Valerie. "Ms. Fenton, call an ambulance. And the Guys in White."

"You _did_ do this!" Jazz accused.

"Jazz! It's me! You know I'd never do anything like that!"

"Phantom – we saw you throw that blast at her! Jazz – call the Guys in White and the ambulance!"

"I'll never trust you again," Jazz said coldly before running off.

I did the only thing I could do.

I flew for it.

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**I don't know if any of you get Channel One news – and if you do, if you watch it, but this Monday, Enterprise was mentioned. The school destroyed in Alabama by tornadoes. Well, at the end of the segment, they mentioned the show choir competition in Nashville. What they didn't mention is that it really is a four day nonstop party. **

**They're going. We're going. We're gonna party. **

**Long story short, no update next week – too much to do. I'll see you two Fridays from now!**


	7. Under The Gun

**Sorry that it's crappy, but I don't have any time. I really need a break from relatives. I just got home from the usual rounds to both side's. And then 'Knock Knock' here's some more cousins. GAH! ...Spring break...just think of spring break...this Friday...Don't expect an update until after then, either. :)**

**WARNING: more character death. Because I can't murder my hair pulling, shoving worms in my hair, booger picking, kicking and screaming, wannabe ghost hunting five and seven year old cousins. **

Because Dan's Already Here

Under The Gun

Vlad's Point of View

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"...In other news, Danny Phantom, formerly Amity Park's ghost hero, now Amity Park's villain, murdered fifteen-year-old Valerie Gray in cold blood today while she was at school. Amity Park is entering a state of emergency, where no one is safe. Run for your lives, Danny Phantom's evil!"

I turned down the volume on the plasma screen.

The last day had been a nightmare, to make an understatement.

People were all around me, removing all of my wonderful possessions from the mansion that, until today, had been mine.

There had been a huge bank robbery where most of my money was kept – I had watched as it happened.

Pariah Dark had snuck in and had taken most of my money. No one else had seen him and for some reason, I couldn't move to fight him.

He then burned my money in front of me. I couldn't move then, either.

Just like a nightmare. Only real.

Although no one else had seen him, they had noticed that all of the money was gone, as was my insurance company.

My company DALV had gone belly up, as well. Along with all of my other various companies.

And it now sounded as if I wasn't the only one having a bad day. Daniel's hero image was obviously forever ruined.

I highly doubted that he had actually intentionally killed Gray. Perhaps Dark had paid him an invisible visit as well.

If anything else bad happened to me, I would guess that something was wrong.

Desperately wrong.

"Mr. Masters, we need the plasma screen TV and the couch," a mover told me.

"Yeah. And you need to get out, dude," another told me, laughing along with the first.

"Not the plasma," I found myself sobbing.

They took it away from me. I had tried to go ghost and scare them, but it hadn't worked.

I left my beautiful mansion for the last time.

It seemed that even the mansion itself was laughing at me.

I took out my cellular phone – it would work until the end of the month – and dialed the only people that I knew could and would help me.

"Hello?"

"Jack…I need some help," I admitted defeat.

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Danny's Point of View

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"The former billionaire Vlad Masters's entire fortune was stolen from Packers Wisconsin Bank today, by an invisible robber, suspected to be a ghost. No word yet on how the billionaire is taking things, other than that all of his companies are declaring bankruptcy right and left. If you own stock, folks, sell it, quick. And watch out for Danny Phantom!"

I shut off the TV, not wanting to hear anymore.

It sounded like I wasn't the only one living in one big nightmare.

The phone rang. I let dad answer it.

"Hello?" I heard his voice.

The doorbell rang. I let mom answer it.

I stayed in my nice, safe room where nothing could harm me. No glares from peers or nagging from my parents. And no angry rants from Jazz.

Yet.

I just wanted to be alone.

Alone was the only way I was going to figure this out.

How had Valerie died?

Had I killed her or had Pariah?

Jazz and Lancer saw me kill her, and I saw Pariah kill her.

Maybe I'm a paranoid schizophrenic. Aren't those the people who see and hear things that aren't there?

What if I'm really insane – and…I'm now a killer.

The doorbell rang again.

I wish it wouldn't. I wish a lot of things wouldn't have happened.

Today as a whole was at the top of my list.

Dad and mom had been getting calls and visitors all afternoon about Danny Phantom and what they should do if they see him.

They've been passing out Fenton Bazookas for the new Anti-Phantom army.

A lot of the kids were joining; I had noticed about a half hour ago when I had dragged myself out to look down from the balcony at our living room filled with new Fenton Bazookas and my classmates.

Jazz and mom had been passing out bazookas while dad was eating cookies and occasionally answering the phone.

But now I was up here, refusing to come out.

I had told my parents that I couldn't take it about Valerie, which had actually been the truth.

Am I a murder?

"Dude," someone, a visitor, exclaimed from my now open door.

It was Tuck.

He had frozen and exclaimed 'dude' on seeing me lying on my bed, staring at my ceiling with glazed eyes.

"Dude, you need to get a grip. What happened to you?"

I didn't answer.

I have five hundred and fifty-two cracks in my ceiling.

"You two left me alone, Tucker," I told him quietly.

"Danny, dude, I just went to a leadership retreat for a day with Sam," Tucker told me.

"What?" I sat up. "I saw you earlier, you were sneaking out with all the other scared kids when Pariah Dark showed up and killed Valerie!"

"Valerie's dead? What happened?"

"Tucker, you know. It's all over the news. And you two ran out. I saw you."

"Danny…we weren't at school today," Tucker told me. "Slowly tell me what happened. Your parents are rallying an army downstairs. Why?"

"I thought I saw Pariah Dark come back. Everyone ran away when they saw him. He killed Valerie. But then Lancer and Jazz showed up and said I did it. I thought that it was all over the news."

"My PDA's broken. Dash sat on it at the retreat. But they said that they didn't see Dark?"

"I think I'm crazy, Tuck," I told him.

"You've been crazy for a long time, Danny."

"What?"

"For this whole hero gig – I mean, who wants to be a hero? Villains are way cooler. And my best friend decides to just treat me as a sidekick! I'm through with it! You're so lame; you could've had the world! Instead, you just waste your time saving worthless people!"

"You're not Tucker!" I yelled, going ghost.

"Yes, I am," Tucker's mouth said. But it wasn't his voice. It was the same voice that Pariah Dark had used when he told me that Jazz and Lancer couldn't see him.

It was the voice that I recognized, but couldn't figure out who it belonged to.

Tucker then took out a gun.

A normal one, I noted.

I couldn't move from the spot. Just like before.

But I could change back to normal. I quickly turned back into human mode.

He pointed the gun at me. I couldn't move.

"I've had it with you and with life. I want to be a ghost. That way I can show you how you're _really_ supposed to use ghost powers," he told me.

"Mom!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I could do that too.

"Tucker – calm down. I know you're in there!" I told the overshadowed Tucker, who was still pointing the gun at me.

"I'm right here, Danny. Watching my lame former best friend. The wannabe hero," Tucker's voice said.

I prayed that it wasn't really him.

My mom ran into the room and surveyed the situation.

"Tucker, put the gun down!"

He didn't. I tried to move again to knock the gun out of his hands.

Tucker put it to his head and pulled the trigger.

"NO!"

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	8. Haunted

Because Dan's Already Here 

Chapter 7

Haunted

Danny's Point of View

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You always hear about how awful it is when someone shoots themselves.

They talk about how you can't believe that someone would take their own life, and how they knew that they'd regret it.

But they never talk about the blood.

That's the one thing they always seem to leave out.

There was blood. A lot of blood.

Tucker's blood.

Everywhere.

It was on the ceiling. It was on my clothes. It was on my walls. My bed, my cell phone, my mother, and finally, it was on me.

Have you ever smelled blood? I mean, really smelled blood.

It reeks. And not just the scent. It reeks because you know exactly what it is. Who it was.

Who it could've been.

It's been four days.

I've been sleeping on the couch lately, while the blood is cleaned up.

I don't think I'll ever be able to go up there again.

Ever.

First Val, then Tuck.

Both of them, I knew, were my fault.

It's sorta nice up here. With the wind at my back.

I was in human mode, looking down at the tiny city below.

I wasn't thinking about jumping off the tallest building in Amity Park. No, I just wanted to sit here.

It's quiet up here.

Up here, there's no music.

Especially no Ember music.

Ember music. That's what they played at Tucker's closed casket funeral.

Ember.

How twisted. And ironic. And sickening.

It made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Which is why I'm up here.

Up here, the world isn't here with me. I can just be me.

Whoever that is.

I need to talk to Sam, but it's the last thing that I feel like I can do.

If I'm not completely crazy, then the look that Sam gave me at the funeral told me what she thought.

She thought that it was my fault.

"It's the truth, you know," I said aloud to everybody.

And nobody.

An annoying sound was coming from my wrist.

I looked down.

There was my watch, beeping, telling me that it was time to go home.

It was my curfew.

I sure didn't want to miss that.

Mom, I think, felt like I did. She couldn't make the tape stop playing, either.

I had tried pushing stop, but it only made it play more often, then rewind again.

The friend. The gun. The beret. The bullet.

All drenched in thick red.

And then the smell.

I could smell it, even now, as I flew towards home.

Home.

Mom was distant.

Jazz was persistent on making me confess to being an evil psychopath.

Dad was…dad.

I hit the ground running, changed back, and made it through my front door with a minute to spare.

Why I was running for once, I don't know.

The running doesn't ever seem to get me away from my present.

When I stopped running and shuffled into the living room, I knew something was different.

There was an extra person sitting on the couch, talking to mom, dad, and Jazz.

One of the people that was on my 'last people I want to see' list.

Vlad.

Somewhere in my stupor, shock registered.

But I was too sluggish to do anything.

So I didn't react, except with a bit of a nod.

I walked over and sat down in an armchair, my expression not even changing.

Vlad looked at me with what appeared to be genuine concern.

My dad told me that Vlad was broke and was going to live with us for a while until he could get back on his feet.

His voice seemed to be coming from miles away.

I didn't think it was possible, but things just got a lot worse.

A lot worse.

Maybe if I go to sleep this will all be a dream.

Then I can wake up and play Doomed with Tucker.

And exchange witty banter with Valerie.

And go on hating Vlad, because he wouldn't be poor and moving in with us.

And maybe the ghosts of Val and Tuck wouldn't silently follow me wherever I went.

Reminding me.

I'm crazy.

I'm evil.

I murdered them.

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Ultra-short, I know. And I'm sorry.

It's called Miss Meliss is taking the ACT on Sat and she really needs to study, and she needs to find either an agent or a publisher within the next two months or bust...


	9. Minus Three

**Once again, my appologies. No excuse this time other than that the school made me take these stupid S.M.A.R.T. tests that were literally five times harder than the blankin' ACT. I feel stupid. Very, very stupid. (But it WAS calculus on a freshman test? But I still feel stupid) Especially when I found out that the last person to get a perfect on them was a prodigy of flippin' ten years old. Talk about stupid smart. **

**Tell me if (nevermind) - how bad this sucks. **

Because Dan's Already Here

Chapter 8

Minus Three

Clockwork's Point of View

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I had thought that my request to Dan would keep him occupied for long enough to over use the Gauntlet.

I had been wrong, I thought grimly as Dan was showing me footage of Danny, not even reacting to the fact that Vlad was in his house.

Dan was grinning, happy that he had such a gift.

"Quite a gift isn't it?" he asked me.

That 'gift' certainly was not modesty.

"Yes, it is," I said in a falsely pleased voice that sent shivers down even my spine. "Continue," I told him. "How have you gotten him to this state?"

"A few deaths that I convinced him were his fault," he told me, his grin not faltering.

"Deaths?" I was unaware of any deaths – and as the Master of All Time, I should've known a while ago that someone significant in Danny's life was going to die prematurely.

"That ghost hunter Valerie and his best friend, Tucker. You're surprised?"

I did not respond, but pursed my lips and thought of how he could deceive me.

He gave me a satisfied grin. "I'm a step ahead of you. But to keep it that way, I must go. Evil deeds to do, you know," he told me with a grand exit.

I sighed, still trying to fathom how he could fool me.

Then a thought came into my mind.

Perhaps I wasn't the one being deceived…

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Danny's Point of View

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"So, Vladdie, what happened to your fortune?"

"Bank robbers. Ghosts, Jack, it was ghosts," Vlad wailed.

I hardly heard either of them. They were miles away on the couch next to me.

I was so numb – but at least I wasn't so numb that I couldn't tell that I was numb.

"That must've been awful, Vlad," my mom said, closer to me than the others.

It was most likely because she was far away from them, as well.

"We'll catch those spooks for you, Vlad!" my dad boomed.

"Can we use the Fenton Peeler?" Jazz perked up.

I shuddered at the thought of the weapon.

When she used it, she would probably be pretending that it was me that she was obliterating.

Well, pretending unless I happened to actually be the one that she was obliterating…

I surveyed the rest of the conversation as though I wasn't a part of it in any way. It was like watching a movie filled with actors that you know.

"Daniel? What is wrong?" Vlad asked me.

"He's an evil loathsome ghost, that's what's wrong," Jazz said so that only Vlad and I could hear.

Vlad laughed – it wasn't a humorous sound.

"Him? Evil?" Vlad muttered back to her.

"More so than you. He killed Val and Tuck," she hissed.

"You must be mistaken," Vlad assured her. She glared daggers at first him and then at me.

I began to pay slightly more attention.

"Just don't be surprised if you find someone murdered in their beds tonight," Jazz got up and walked up to her bedroom.

How she could stand the smell of blood was beyond me.

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Midnight.

Darkness surrounded me – and I didn't have a clue what had woken me up from a deep sleep on the couch.

Vlad was still asleep on the air mattress on the other side of the room.

That verified that I hadn't woken up because my throat had been slit…

I opened my eyes wider – a faint glow was emitting from the front door.

A ghost phased through the door – which was impossible unless you took down the shield that dad had put up after Jazz had convinced him that Danny Phantom was evil.

That had taken all of two seconds – and I had listened to that as well, completely detached.

The ghost was finished with its phasing.

I rubbed my eyes thrice.

Vlad was still asleep on his air mattress.

"Vlad!" I whispered.

"Yes, Maddie?" he asked, still asleep.

"Vlad!" I said, realizing how idiotic it was.

I was trying to wake up my archenemy so he could see my archenemy in the doorway, grinning at the both of us.

"What?" he asked me, fully awake.

Then he must've seen himself, because he cursed – and it wasn't the usual 'butter biscuits'.

"Inherit the ability to multiply like that lately? It's impressive," I commented.

"Yes, I did get that ability," he admitted. "But that's not me," not a trace of deception was in his voice - none of its usual oiliness.

He sounded, well, human.

Strange. I was so detached from reality that I actually completely believed him.

Plasmius grinned at us both.

Then I felt that familiar feeling.

I wanted to get up – and I was trying.

But I couldn't move.

"Daniel, I can't move," Vlad told me, sounding actually afraid of whatever the heck was happening.

"I can't either," all I could do was talk.

I began to scream – but I couldn't do that anymore, either.

"Enjoy the show. Unfortunately, it looks as though you're in the nosebleed section," Plasmius told us in the voice. The voice that had come out of Tucker's mouth right before he killed himself.

The next thing I knew, I was getting up close and personal with a metal wall, blood trickling down my face from my nose.

I fell painfully to the floor, crumpled behind the couch.

I still couldn't move – I couldn't even cry out.

I heard a thump that must've been Vlad hitting the wall as well.

He landed in a heap right next to me, his nose trickling with blood as well.

Looking under the couch, I watched as Plasmius floated up the stairs and out of view.

Ten seconds later, I heard the screams.

Neither of us could do anything. We couldn't scream. We couldn't move. We couldn't help them.

A minute more and the screams were silenced.

Plasmius drifted down the staircase, the most evil grin I had ever seen plastered across his face.

Blood covered his hands.

Sirens were sounding.

Doors were pounding.

Plasmius quickly disappeared, just as the police broke down the door to find Vlad and I crumpled in a heap against the wall.

I barely registered them as they asked us what happened.

Somehow, I knew that we could once again physically move, but neither of us did.

"Was it a break in?" one of them asked, shining a flashlight in our bleeding faces.

Both of us nodded in terror – it was for different reasons.

"Check upstairs!" another ordered. Three ran up the stairs and shouted what they had found.

I didn't even notice as my tears mixed with the blood from my nose.

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	10. The Last Words

**Note: Yo, y'all! Sorry…but it wasn't as if the email updates were working so… (rotten fruit is thrown)**

**Anywho…just know that this all takes place before any of the new, as of yet unaired in the US, episodes. No…you know. I won't give it away for those of you who don't know. But none of…anything. (SLIGHT SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD) Yeah…I gave Vlad that power…but no Maddie and no coughmayorposistioncough. And definitely no coughparentsknowinganddannyandsamtogethernesscough. **

Because Dan's Already Here

Chapter 9

The Last Words

Danny's Point of View

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The police station.

Surrounded. That's what I was.

Not by ghosts, for once.

By investigators. By flashing lights.

By investigators telling the flashing lights – the press – that they knew exactly who had killed my parents.

By investigators telling the flashing lights that it, as usual, was Danny Phantom's fault. Danny Phantom had committed every single one of the recent murders. They had seen him leaving the scene, laughing manically.

By emotion.

Guilt.

Guilt.

More guilt.

(…anger…)

Have another helping; my heart seemed to say, taking a lesson from the lunch lady.

Vlad sat beside me, looking about as shocked as I was.

The flashing bulbs disappeared, smearing the story all over the news.

Danny Phantom was a murderer.

He had always been.

He always will be.

Because he just is.

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Somehow, the police had quickly found a will – as though they knew exactly where it would be.

They were reading it to us now.

Custody – it was misspelled and pronounced as 'custardy' by the policewoman. It sounded like dad was the one who wrote the will.

Yes, it must've been him because I was going to be staying with Vlad.

Any other second of my life, I would've shuddered.

I would've run away, taking my chances on the street.

After all, it used to be safer, right?

People didn't used to believe Danny Phantom was evil.

A murderer.

Murderer.

Murderer.

Familiar voices crying 'murderer' echoed throughout the room - or throughout my head.

I hoped that it was throughout the room.

That would mean that I would have one ounce of sanity left.

Maybe, the voices told me, before continuing their cries.

Murderer.

Danny Phantom is a murderer.

You killed us, Danny.

I won't be a world famous pop star, one lamented.

We will never go to college, three said as one.

No Yale, one of the three said.

No MIT, another said.

No UCLA, another muttered, as though they knew that they wouldn't have gone there anyway.

No more martial arts, another cried loudly, as though launching an attack on me.

No more fudge cookies, a new voice added timidly.

After that statement, I was able to put a finger on the somehow familiar voices.

The criers were my parents. My sister. Tuck. Valerie. Mr. Lancer, the hopeful pop star, even.

And the voice.

It was the ring leader – I could tell.

It was the one edging them on, the cheerleader.

Murderer.

Grammy's.

Yale.

MIT.

UCLA.

Cookies.

Martial Arts.

The policewoman continued, not hearing the cries of 'murderer' bombarding my ears.

Possessions. Meaningless possessions. Possessions couldn't change anything.

Possessions wouldn't replace them.

Possessions would never stop the voices.

I couldn't believe it.

Couldn't.

Shouldn't.

Wouldn't.

Won't.

That was the answer. The simple answer deep down inside.

I won't believe it. I don't have to.

They aren't dead.

We're dead, the voices insisted, the Voice as their cheerleader.

You're lying, I told them.

My heart was telling me so.

(Was it because my heart couldn't believe it, either?)

I pushed the thought away as quickly as it had come. I knew that somehow they had planted it there.

Somehow they had forced me into thinking that –

We're dead.

Go away!

Silence.

Sweet silence.

I noticed that the policewoman had left in search of a trauma counselor.

I turned to Vlad, knowing that we were alone for the moment.

"Vlad, this isn't real."

"Why do you think that, Danny?" the Voice mocked from Vlad's mouth.

Vlad clapped his hands over his mouth.

I felt a weight lift off of me.

The Voice had left.

It was gone. For now.

"Vlad, do you hear the voices saying that Danny Phantom is a murderer?" I asked him quietly.

"Yes - and no. They're telling me that I'm the murderer. But I knew that," Vlad hung his head low with apparent regret.

"Vlad, you know that that wasn't you."

"Oh, but it truly was. I've wanted to do that for so long - "

"It was your ghost half that wanted to."

"My ghost half is me, Daniel," Vlad talked down to me.

"Anyone can change, Vlad. They just have to want to change," I told him quietly, neither of us looking at the other.

"No. They have to actually make themselves change. Wanting and doing are two different things," Vlad said, a bit of his old evil self grinning inside.

I don't know how I could even sense it – but I could.

"I need the Changed Vlad here, Plasmius," I told him.

"You what me?" Vlad asked me. It was the same soft tone that human Vlad had used when he was scared of himself standing in the doorway, preparing to – do something.

"We need to stick together if we're going to get out of this alive. Vlad, I need you," the last words I ever thought I would say came jetting out of my mouth before I could even stop them.

Vlad went into deep thought.

I waited for his response.

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	11. Malfunction

**AN: Sorry all for the wait. But it's the last week of school, and I wasn't feeling dark enough to write this. I got four rejection emails today. Got Dark?**

**Because Dan's Already Here**

**Chapter 10**

**Malfunction**

**Dan's Point of View**

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Ah, the chaos.

I was standing in the middle of Amity Park. Thousands of citizens were fleeing, screaming as though the devil himself were floating above them.

They shouldn't flatter me so.

But they certainly do.

This was all the product of the wonderful gauntlet on my arm.

Food supplies were disappearing, along with the water.

And using the gauntlet, every single person I encountered lived whatever their worst fear was.

One woman was experiencing first hand what it was like to fall into a pit of venomous, biting snakes.

Another man was experiencing a containment chamber with no sweets – no fudge, especially.

Another woman was seeing her son for what he was. Ironically, my mother had feared that I was Danny Phantom all along.

Maddie wasn't scared that her son was evil, oh no. She was afraid for his safety.

Perhaps she should be concerned for her son's safety…

I noticed a motion out of the corner of my eye, turned, and blasted an eighty-year-old man in such a way that he should've immediately experienced his worst fear.

Instead, he found himself in a field of roses with his dead wife.

What?

I shook the glove and blasted him again.

His children appeared, smiling, with chocolate chip cookies.

What the hell's wrong with this thing?

If the glove is malfunctioning in the real world, I'd hate to think of what has been happening in Danny and Vlad's…simulated gauntlet environment.

I have a very bad feeling that the environment will be malfunctioning in such a way that the illusion will fade…

In such a way that my plan will be ruined.

I began zooming towards the simulators.

Why hadn't I just killed the two before instead of bothering with this?

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**Danny's Point of View**

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"I'll help you, Daniel," Vlad told me after a long pause of thinking.

The 'but only because I want to save my own butt' went unsaid.

Murderer.

Shut up!

The voices listened.

"Vlad, this can't be real," I repeated.

"Why?" he asked.

"It just isn't," I told him.

He nodded.

He felt it, too.

Out of nowhere, a police woman practically knocked down the door to the office that we were sitting in. Vlad and I both jumped about a mile.

In her wake was what looked like a free spirited blanket - brown, wet, and rumpled.

The only thing that clued me off to the fact that it was a person was the sobs.

Blankets can sob, the voices mocked.

No they can't, I told them, even though I knew that they would only retort. They would only make me doubt myself.

More sounds emitted from the blanket - a sniffle, another sob, a moan, and on seeing me, a shriek.

The blanket sat down beside me, and slid off the person. Or what I thought had been a person.

"You killed me," a red eyed monster told me in The Voice.

"I don't even know you!" I told it. Its knarled ghostly pale skin rippled, as though angry. Its red eyes grew brighter.

The police woman glared at us with the same red eyes. She also spoke in The Voice.

"You're being charged for the murder of this young woman and her parents," the voice told us.

"Since when did the police listen to ghosts?" I asked the woman.

"Since now. Since you killed Sam," it said.

I didn't kill Sam.

Yes you did, the voices mocked.

That's not Sam, I yelled silently at them.

"That's not Sam," I said aloud.

But it was too late.

It seemed impossible, but literally hundreds of police men and women were storming into the tiny room.

The tiny room began to stretch and grow, allowing more officers in.

"You killed me Danny," The Voice said in an imitation of Sam's voice.

I found myself immediately in a cell with Vlad.

There had been no transition. One second I'm in the room with the guards, the next I'm alone in a cell with Vlad.

"Vlad – did you see that?"

The walls started to blink in and out of existence.

"Are you seeing this?" he shot back at me.

"I'd say that I was more right than I thought. This isn't real."

"Yes it is," The Voice told me.

Only this time, I could tell who the voice was.

The Voice was none other than Dan Phantom and he was standing in our cell – the only thing that wasn't blinking in and out of existence.

I'm so confused.

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**Has the dream-like state been coming across in the writing?**


	12. Revelation

**Because Dan's Already Here**

**Chapter 11**

**Revelation**

**A/N:. Now tell me, does this sound like a book to you? Because in the last week and a half, I've literally been through two tropical storms, a spiked drink, a major sugar and ginseng high (ouch…I hate tea disguised as energy drinks), an alligator, snake, and ghost encounter, what the flight attendants acted like was a foiled terrorist attack, and the worst cold of my life. **

**I think I'm just bad luck like that. **

**Danny's Point of View**

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What the duck?

Dan was floating inside our cell, grinning at Vlad and me.

Last time I checked…well…he was gone.

Last time I checked, he was under the…protection? Watchful eye? In the custody? Of Clockwork.

How did he get out?

"Hello, Danny," Dan told me in an oily voice.

I so totally hate him.

Me.

Well, actually, it's future me.

I can't think about that. Brain lock! Oh, whatever he is.

"Yo," I managed in a wavering voice.

Dan threw his head back and laughed.

It wasn't humorous – it was just evil.

Dan grinned again after his laugh.

But beneath the grin, there was something else.

Desperation? Nervousness? Worry?

About what exactly? Last time I checked, and I seem to be doing a lot of checking lately, Dan sorta had us…trapped.

But the cell's walls would occasionally blink in and out of existence.

Which prompted my thought of 'what the duck?'

Dan continued to laugh.

Vlad spoke up – his voice totally in control.

"What do you want?"

I more than half-expected him to retort 'Like I'd tell you'.

But, of course, he didn't.

"You should probably know by now," he answered stroking his bare arm.

Then, out of nowhere, all was explained.

I had thought it was all a dream – but it must've all been real.

On his arm was the Reality Gauntlet.

What I had believed was a dream – Dan getting the Gauntlet from Clockwork – was reality.

I was in a messed up dream.

"Very good, Danny," Dan grinned.

Everything went black.

What must've been a second later, I found myself strapped to some type of table, wires jutting out of me from odd angles and electrodes plastered onto my temples. To say the least, I was a little disoriented.

I couldn't see directly in front of me – a blindfold or something must've been blocking my vision.

It really _had_ been a dream.

I tried to wriggle my way out of the straps, but they held fast, refusing to let me, their prisoner, go.

Life has just been a box of Pixy Stix lately.

What would I ever do without sarcasm?

Eventually I was lucid enough to realize that my head wasn't strapped down.

Turning my head from side to side, I found that I was able to see past whatever was blocking my vision.

I was in some type of abandoned warehouse. Can you say cliché?

It was massive – three football fields at least. Scrap metal littered the floor. On the walls of the room, broken, dirty windows allowed cracks of sunlight into the place.

A thick layer of dust covered the floor, and to my left, another table was set up.

Vlad was strapped to this table, with all the wires and electrodes to boot. His eyes were still closed.

"He's still in the dream, Danny," Dan told me, popping into my narrow line of vision.

I jumped.

"Why?" I asked him. He grinned another grin, this time the underlying concern was evident.

It wasn't concern for me, that would definitely be a 'duh'.

I struggled against my bonds again in vain.

"He hasn't figured out it's a dream yet, like you," Dan answered. "You're booted out of the program once you figure it out."

"What kind of program is this?" I asked him, shaking my head around.

"One to make you live your worst nightmare. It is all controlled by me," Dan told me.

Somehow I knew that the only reason he was here was that for some reason, he lost control.

Call it intuition.

"Very good, Danny," Dan told me, sounding like Lancer. "Yes, I did lose control."

"This thing can read my thoughts?" Dan grinned – his affirmative.

"Very sophisticated. Created by the Reality Gauntlet," he petted the wretched glove as though it was a prized kitten.

From what I could see from here, he was using that glove a lot…

"Yes, it is a wonderful thing. And I'm wondering if it is because I've been using my prized possession so much that it is beginning to malfunction."

"Malfunction?"

"Don't tell me that you didn't know. The reality must've been beginning to shatter. It was probably filled with 'fade in, fade out' transitions – like a dream. Not like reality."

"Sam didn't look like Sam, either," I told him with a grin.

My family was okay.

They weren't dead.

Jazz didn't believe that I was a murder.

My nightmare was nothing more than that – a nightmare.

My life wasn't coming down all around me.

It had all been a dream, I repeated to myself.

Another thought lodged in my brain.

This was Dan Phantom, evil future me extraordinaire.

'Evil' was certainly the operative word.

"So why the hell didn't you do it for real?" was all I could ask Dan.

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	13. The Reason

**I LIVE! MUWAHAHAHAHA!**

Because Dan's Already Here

Chapter 12

The Reason

Danny's Point of View

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"So why the hell didn't you do it for real?"

"A single word," Dan answered as I tried fruitlessly to move again. From looking over at Vlad, I had the feeling that I, too, was connected up to wires and strapped to a table.

I just happened to be awake, and unable to see except for a very small line of vision.

"That was three words," I muttered.

"Clockwork," Dan explained.

"Clockwork?"

"Clockwork. He wanted to make sure that I had sufficient abilities without the Gauntlet before considering me his partner."

"I'm effin GAY?"

"You know what I mean."

"Then why did he tell me another plan?"

"Because he was lying. My assignment was to break you psychologically, but not harm you physically. After he's seen that, we'll take over the world," Dan said, ending with a maniacal laugh.

"What is it with people and these maniacal laughs? I mean, seriously, do you think they sound intimidating? They just give away how much of a nut you really are!"

"You sound fairly flip for being the imprisoned one."

"You sound fairly flip for being the stupid one," I mocked.

"And how am I stupid? I have the Reality Gauntlet and you two, right where I want you."

"You are going to be taking orders from Clockwork because he's under the watch of the Observants. Why work for someone when you can have someone work for you?"

"He's no longer under the Observants's jurisdiction."

"Clockwork? Rogue? No…" I said sarcastically, thinking of the first time I met Clockwork.

"Very much so."

"So what're you two going to do together? World domination? A brand new clothing line? Ooo! I know! How about a frozen dessert line with that BAM guy?"

Dan glared at me for a second before disappearing from my line of vision.

A few minutes later, I heard Vlad's voice.

"What is happening?"

"You name it, it's happening," I told Vlad.

"Your mother's marrying me?" he joked.

"Ha ha," I answered.

"So what was with Dan in the cell? Where are we?"

"It was all a machine making us think we were awake, Vlad," I told him.

"I thought it wasn't real. I didn't think that we were in the Matrix," Vlad said.

I didn't laugh. It wasn't funny.

"I don't know where we are, exactly. We're in some old warehouse that screams 'kidnapping'," I told him.

"Go figure. What's all that stuff on you?"

"The machine."

"Where's Dan?"

"Right here," Dan said, sounding intimidating.

I heard a thud that must've been either Dan punching Vlad, or him letting him go.

"Now Vlad, I remember you as a very intelligent man. A man who knows an opportunity when he sees one. And this is an opportunity."

I'll take that thud as Dan letting Vlad go.

Why couldn't he have punched him?

"I noticed," Vlad said dryly. "What's in it for me?"

"Your life."

Ask what about Daniel, ask what about Daniel, Vlad!

"Seems like quite a deal," Vlad agreed.

Well, if they won't do it for you, do it yourself…

"What about me?"

"Even if I gave you the offer of joining us, Danny, you'd refuse it. You know that – I know that. Clockwork knows that."

"Maybe I would if you convinced me that you were going to take over the world for good causes…" I said.

"Don't kid yourself, Danny. You're too good," Dan sneered.

"I can't be completely good."

"Uh huh. Why not? You trying to be macho?"

"No. I can't be completely good because you're here," I told him.

That sure made him think.

"Am I going to get any help from you, Vlad?" I asked.

"Daniel, it wasn't real. There's no reason for us to be allies."

"But it was real to us," I told him, trying my best to get some pity or regret out of him.

But hey, it's Vlad. It looks like even I'm not that good.

"Yes it was real to us. But it never happened," Vlad told me, none of the desired pity or regret in his voice.

Damn.

"Tell you what, Danny. I won't kill you," Dan told me.

There was a pretty clear, yet left an unsaid 'yet' hanging out there.

"Yet?"

"Yet. We'll wait for Clockwork to get here," Dan told me.

"No need to wait, Dan," I heard Clockwork's voice say.

So much for having time to write my will.

"Hey, Clockwork," I said in a 'howya doin, pal?' sort of voice.

"Hello, Danny," he said, definitely not in a 'howya doin, pal?' voice. "I take it you will be joining us, Vlad?"

"You didn't give me much of a choice," Vlad admitted.

"You're right. We didn't. So I want to make sure that you're with us. Is that reasonable?"

"I'd do the same myself," Vlad admitted.

"Good. I just have a simple test for you – much simpler than the one I gave Dan here."

"I'd appreciate that," Vlad told him.

"Good," Clockwork answered, not continuing.

"What is it?" Vlad finally asked.

"I want you to kill Danny for me."

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	14. Negotiation

Because Dan's Already Here 

Chapter 13

Negotiation

Danny's Point of View

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"I want you to kill Danny for me," Clockwork said, the smile easily heard in his voice.

"Kill Daniel?" Vlad asked in a slightly strained voice.

"It's him or you," Clockwork said cheerfully.

"…Okay," Vlad said, like he had agreed to order cheese pizza instead of anchovy.

The straps around me fell away and I found myself on the floor. My vision wasn't restricted anymore, so I could see all over again, though my view was limited to the floor. I was face down, and I couldn't move.

Footsteps approached me, and a foot caused me to roll over. Vlad began to rip the wires out of me, each leaving a small pool of blood.

Ouch.

From a quick look at Vlad, he had similar pools of blood all over his body. He didn't look so good. His eyes were more sunken in than usual, and he looked thinner. Smaller.

Scared.

Vlad?

"How am I supposed to kill him?" Vlad asked Dan and Clockwork, avoiding my eyes.

"Just hit him with a bunch of ghost rays until he croaks," Dan suggested.

Such a sensitive fellow.

"He's filled with paralysis drugs paralyzing him from the shoulders down. We also used the Plasmius Maximus on him. He can't do anything to you. But you can easily do things to him," Clockwork said.

Never mind. I think Dan sounded more sensitive.

Vlad turned his back on Dan and Clockwork and looked down at me.

I tried my best to look helpless.

But then again… judging from my situation, I probably looked it already.

Vlad charged up a pink blast in his right hand.

"We're wait-ing," Dan said in an impatient sing song voice.

The first blast hit me, hurting about a hundred times more than those pink things usually did.

Another came, and another, and another, and another until I felt like a roasted turkey on Halloween.

Wait…isn't turkey on Thanksgiving? I guess my brains are getting roasted, too.

They must be, because I think I see tears in Vlad's eyes.

The last time he blasted me like this, we were in his library, and I didn't even know that he was a halfa like me.

I was even more helpless than I was that day.

Another blast rushed towards me.

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Dan's Point of View

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A few more and the little twerp would be done for.

When the last blast had hit him, he had passed out like the wimp he is.

His clothes were charred and ridden with holes. His hair was singed – I could smell it from here.

Vlad was passing the test. I could imagine the smile on his face when he killed the little nuisance.

One of the last thoughts Danny must've had was that Clockwork had betrayed him. Here he was, standing next to me, grinning from ear to ear like Christmas had come early.

Vlad was about to give the final, killing blast when he turned around to face us.

"Am I in?"

"He's not dead yet," I answered.

"He could prove to be a useful slave. You could easily fit him with an obedience collar, similar to the one that Walker puts on his more useful inmates."

I couldn't believe it.

After all these years, Vlad's trying to save the boy?

That machine must've addled his brains.

"You can't be serious!" I yelled at him.

"Well, what kind of threat is he, really? He can't do much of anything to harm your plans, I'm sure," Vlad said.

"Are you listening to him?" I turned to Clockwork, outraged.

"Yes, I am listening to him, Dan. And I think that it's a good idea," Clockwork answered.

"What's a good idea?" I asked him, shocked.

"To but obedience collars on them," he answered.

"On them? But I – " Vlad began.

"Kill the boy or be in a collar with the boy. Your decision," Clockwork told him.

I grinned.

"I choose…neither!" Vlad shouted at us, beginning to aim pitifully weak blasts at us. We blocked them.

Before I could blink, all of a sudden Vlad and the boy had disappeared.

Drat that disappearing scheme!

"What are you going to do?" I asked Clockwork.

"This," Clockwork answered. "Time Out!"

Nothing happened to me – I existed outside of time.

But Vlad appeared, carrying Danny, both frozen in time.

"If you don't mind?" Clockwork asked me.

"Not at all," I told him.

With a wave of my hand and three bursts of energy, Gauntlet Obedience Collars appeared on the necks of both Danny and Vlad, and the controller appeared in Clockwork's hands.

"Excellent. Two halfa slaves for us to control. What shall we have them do first?"

"Ruin the boy's reputation," I told him with a grin.

"Perfect," he said. "Time In!"

Vlad and Danny unfroze and both plummeted to the ground. Vlad was conscious – Danny was not.

Vlad tried to get up and fly again, but the collar knew that this was something its owners did not desire for their captives to do, and shocked Vlad with high amounts of energy.

He screamed, his clothes smoking, before plummeting to the ground again and trying unsuccessfully to get back up.

Vlad seemed to notice the collar and gave us both death glares.

"It was your choice," Clockwork shrugged, putting the controller in his cloak. "We'll wait until the boy's awake…and then we'll have some fun. Some reality fun," Clockwork grinned.

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**I'm. Not. Going. Insane. **


	15. Yo Ho, All Together

Because Dan's Already Here 

Chapter 14

Yo Ho, All Together

Danny's Point of View

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"No…I don't want any," I muttered as Dash shoved the glass into my hands. It was causing my huge headache – hell, it was a whole body ache.

And, after all, and who wanted booze this early in the day?

I didn't even drink – well except for that one time dad accidentally spiked my Cool Aid…but that was another story.

"I don't drink, Dash," I muttered. "Please don't beat me up again…"

"It's five o'clock somewhere, Danny…_drink up me hearties, yo ho_!" Dash began singing and turned into that dude from Pirates of the Caribbean…what's his name?

Rockin' Robbin?

Baskin and Robbins?

Cardinal Josefat?

Yo Yo Ma?

Elizabeth Swan?

Right movie. Wrong person.

Something Byrd?

No…

Jack Sparrow. That was it! I knew it had something to do with a bird.

Who names their kids after birds?

Weird people I guess…

"_Yo ho, all together, hoist the colors high!_"

What was _that_ from?

Thinking…thinking…I can't think with all this whatever it was in my system.

"Stop it," I muttered. Jack Sparrow was still singing and was still trying to shove the bottle of rum into my hands.

He gave up.

That's better.

Never mind.

Instead, he started telling me to open my mouth wider.

For some reason, I did, and I felt all the rum go down into my stomach.

It felt nice in my mouth. My mouth felt awful dry.

Wait…that wasn't rum…

It was…

Pina Colada?

Margarita?

Tequila? Tequila! Hey!

No, that wasn't it.

Vitameatavegimin?

Yuck.

It was water! That's it!

Jack started morphing into someone else.

It was Vlad.

Hey, I'm dreaming, so what the hell?

I tried to slap him, but my hands wouldn't move more than a couple of inches.

Drat.

"Hey, Vlad," I slurred. "Wow…you went from Dash to Jack Sparrow to you all in like ten seconds!"

"Danny! Wake up!"

"I am awake," I slurred. "Hey…what's the whole 'yo ho blah blah blah blah hoist the colors high' thing from? I can't remember…"

"Danny! Don't do this to me! I didn't think that I was hitting you _that_ hard! Butter biscuits, we'd just come out a vegetative state!"

"Vitameatavegimin. Now that's some nasty stuff," I told Vlad.

"Danny, stop blabbering about _I Love Lucy_! Wake up!" Vlad started slapping my face. "I don't have any more water, so you'd better wake up! Wait…there has to be a pool around here somewhere…"

Vlad turned back into Jack Sparrow.

We were on that ship of his, and we were moving. Rocking around.

Rockin' Robbin!

Why is that so funny?

All of a sudden, I had jumped the plank and was falling towards the water.

What the –

Cold water woke me up and cleared my head.

I came up, sputtering water.

"What's crazier? My dreams or the fact that Clockwork and Dan are working together? Or is it that I'm alive? Hey! I'm alive! You didn't kill me, Vlad!"

Vlad was dragging me out of the water and beginning to fly again. We were somewhere over Amity Park – well, the park of Amity Park. Vlad had just thrown me into the pond and, boy, did it ever wake me up.

"Why didn't you kill me?" I asked him as he towed me to who knew where.

"I couldn't do it, Danny. Your dratted guilt trips worked and landed me in this mess."

"What mess?"

"See this collar?"

That thing was a doosey.

"Ouch. Let me guess…I have one, too?"

"Yes. Right after you passed out, I suggested that we keep you alive as a slave with one of these."

"Mighty nice of you, Vlad," I told him with a grin. He rolled his eyes.

"In case you didn't notice, it backfired, and now we're stuck in the same boat."

"We're in Amity Park…that must mean that either 'A', they want us to reveal ourselves, or 'B', they're gonna make me do terrible things."

"I do believe that they are aiming for choice 'B'," Vlad told me.

"Figures."

"But I think if the Reality Gauntlet's destroyed, these collars will be history, and we'll be free."

"And hopefully, Dan will be dead," I added.

"If we destroy the Gauntlet, we destroy Dan. It's that simple."

"So how are we gonna do it? Some elaborate plan? Or are we going to wing it?"

"An elaborate plan that _is_ winging it," Vlad whispered to me as Dan appeared a bit in front of us and started blasting people with rays from the Gauntlet.

It looked like he was making everyone live their worst fears – something that would take a lot of power. Hopefully.

Wow…some guy's afraid of Barney. Go figure.

"Muwahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Dan laughed maniacally as he watched people scream.

"Evil laughs. How lame," I said before charging up a blast, aiming it at the Gauntlet, and letting it fly.

Dan blocked it without ceasing his activities, and my collar began to shock me.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

I'd take those pink ghost rays any time, any place.

Oh hey…the sky's pretty today…how'd I get down here?

I slowly flew back up to where Dan had stopped blasting people, surprised at how much energy it took to get up.

I had given all I had in that one blast – the blast that had failed.

"So…I do believe that it's time for Danny Phantom to make an appearance…" Dan said, grinning.

Why I didn't like the way 'appearance' sounded…?

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	16. Until Next Time

Because Dan's Already Here 

Chapter 15

Until Next Time…

Danny's Point of View

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Appearance didn't sound so good.

It wasn't.

"Now here's what you're going to do. You're going to come out over this town wide loudspeaker and announce that it's Danny Phantom, and you're just about to murder the mayor. Then you murder him."

That's a pretty lame plan.

"That's stupid. Why announce it?"

"Okay. Just go do it. Now."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

Zap!

"Ahhhh!"

Yeah, it hurt.

And yeah, the mayor hated Danny Phantom.

But it wasn't like I was about to kill him just because Dan was zapping me with this thing.

I just stood – er, floated there.

Zap!

I forced myself not to scream as the pain tore through my body.

White-hot knives cut off my limbs and through my body – or at least, that's what it felt like.

Zap!

I plummeted to the ground and landed in a heap. But I still wasn't going to do it.

"Do it and I'll stop causing you all this pain. It has to hurt badly – I know it does. It'll end when you kill the mayor," Dan told me in what he must've thought was a soothing voice.

It just sounded plain creepy.

"I'll never do anything you say," I told him.

With another zap, I was gone.

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Vlad's Point of View

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"I don't know why you ask the impossible. No matter what you do to him, he's not going to do it," I told Dan as Danny was knocked unconscious yet again.

That definitely can't be good for him…

"Sure I could ask you to do it. But you already have a horrible reputation and the mayor is in the opposite political party from you. A year ago, you'd kill him just for grins," Dan answered.

"A year ago, I'd do many things just for grins," I answered. "But that was a year ago. I'm a different person now."

"That's just what you want us to think," Dan told me slyly.

"I don't really care what you think at all," I shrugged. "Change is something you should be doing more for yourself than anyone else."

"Where did you get that? A fortune cookie?"

"I don't eat Chinese," I answered.

"It gives you gas?" I glared at him. He grinned and waved the Reality Gauntlet around before shooting a stream of light at me.

I braced myself for a wave of pain that never came.

He must've done something to the collar, I realized before looking at the Gauntlet itself.

As Dan shot another ray of light at Danny, the Gauntlet itself began to glow.

Two tiny cracks began to form on its outside edge.

Dan didn't notice, but threw another ray of light down towards Danny. The Gauntlet continued to glow and three more cracks joined the two from before on the Gauntlet's surface.

I looked down to the ground where Danny was just beginning to stir. Just from Danny's stirring, I knew that something was wrong. It had taken much effort to get Danny to wake up the first time, and now he must've been even weaker.

He shouldn't be waking up for hours.

Instead, Dan had taken Danny seriously – he could control us now.

There goes the neighborhood…then the town…then the county…then the state…then the country…then the world…and finally…

The universe.

That's certainly a cheery thought.

Danny groaned and floated up to us, his eyes glazed over. He wasn't truly awake – it was only his body that was moving.

He was more or less sleepwalking, completely unaware of what was happening.

Danny stopped next to me. Dan threw another ray of light – causing more cracks – towards Danny.

Danny turned towards me and the next thing I knew I was in a crater in the ground in human form, waking up.

Dan was just throwing another ray at Danny. He woke up.

"I want you to know what you're doing, Danny," Dan told him cruelly.

I changed into my ghost form and flew towards them.

"Vlad? What's the crater?" Danny asked me groggily.

"Dan made you do that," I explained calmly.

"Sorry. I can't control it," Danny apologized.

"Vlad can't control himself, either, Danny," Dan grinned.

Five seconds later, I found myself punching, kicking, and blasting Danny repeatedly.

I couldn't stop. I wanted to – but Dan was controlling me.

Danny began to block my blows and sent more of his own into the mix.

"Wow! Whatdyaknow? It's Two-Halves-Of-Me-TV!" Dan laughed as he forced us to fight ourselves.

Every blow and block from each of us required a ray.

Thirty seconds later, Danny and I were both badly beaten and bruised, and a whistling sound began to come from the Gauntlet.

Dan slapped it, trying to make it stop.

Danny and I stopped fighting. Danny looked like he was just holding on – he shouldn't be conscious, anyway.

Dan had been forcing him to stay awake.

But no more. Dan was busy trying to stop the irritating whistling.

Danny shot a glance at me. We both knew what was happening.

We thought that Clockwork had betrayed us, but he hadn't betrayed us at all.

The Reality Gauntlet was breaking up, just as he had said, and as it did so, cracks began forming on Dan as well as the Gauntlet.

A small piece of the Gauntlet fell away.

A larger piece of Dan fell away.

Dan began to scream, and Clockwork materialized from some unknown hiding place.

"What did I tell you?" he asked us as more pieces broke up.

Our collars began to disintegrate in a similar fashion.

"You weren't lying," I said.

"Of course not. I'm the Master of All Time. And you've just helped me rid the world of two great and powerful evils. Dan won't be bothering us any longer," Clockwork said with a smile as the last fragments of Dan and the Gauntlet disappeared in a massive flash of light.

A huge shock wave pushed the three of us back a few feet. That was the last of the Gauntlet – and that was the last of Dan.

The last of the collars around our necks disintegrated much in the same way the Gauntlet had – in a huge flash of light.

Danny fell back into unconsciousness. Thanks to Clockwork's time skills, Danny stopped falling before he hit the ground.

"What now?" I asked him.

"Things will go on as usual. You'll both be fine. But perhaps you two will put aside your differences and help make the world a better place," Clockwork told me.

Or not.

The last thing I heard before waking up at home in my empty mansion was Clockwork yelling in his authoritative voice

"Time Out!"

With those two simple words, I knew that everything with Dan and the Gauntlet was over.

The world was calm – the past few days were but a bad memory, much like yesterday's beans.

Everything was over.

Or it was until next time…

00000000000000

Da End.


End file.
